Federal action urged to reopen beef markets

Canada’s livestock producers, fed up with international trade barriers, want the federal government to do much more to open up foreign markets for their products. A new industry report recommends 25 steps for Ottawa to take in gaining greater access for Canada’s agricultural exports, especially beef. That includes creating a separate bureaucracy for negotiating international

Cattle producers earn less than their ancestors

Canadian cow-calf and feeder operators are receiving only half as much for their cattle as their parents and grandparents did, according to a new study. And it’s mainly because of powerful packers and an overdependence on the U. S. export market, the study by the National Farmers Union concludes. The report, released on the eve



South America’s meat packers battle sales slump

A downturn in beef orders is forcing meat packers in South American ranching countries to sell shipments off cheap and make workers take early holidays. Early this year, things looked rosy for beef exporters in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, but with Russian importers struggling to get credit and Europeans cutting down on expensive steaks, sales


No beef deal yet with Korea

Officials from South Korea are scheduled to come to Canada this month and visit beef slaughterhouses as Korea reconsiders its five-year-old ban on Canadian beef and cattle. The Koreans’ visit will allow them “to see first hand the effectiveness of Canada’s food safety and animal health safeguards,” the Canadian government said Nov. 10. Korea’s ports

Canada, Korea to restart beef talks

Officials from Canada and South Korea were set to resume technical negotiations Nov. 3-4, focused on restoring Korean market access for Canadian beef, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz confirmed recently. Korea’s ports have been closed to imports of Canadian beef since May 2003, after officials confirmed Canada’s first homegrown case of BSE in an Alberta cow.


Fusarium burgers? They’re scientifcally safe

Though grain and oilseed prices have fallen dramatically over the past few weeks, it’s clear that’s largely due to fallout from the international credit crisis. That hasn’t changed the fundamentals of the marketplace. The recovery in production this year has helped move off the knife edge between supply and demand that was talked about so

Tyson to tighten beef, pork COOL labelling

U. S. meat company Tyson Foods Inc. said this week it will tighten its country-of-origin labelling (COOL) practices starting early next year to identify more of its beef and pork products as sourced exclusively from the United States. The leading U. S. beef and No. 2 pork producer had initially planned on categorizing its beef


U. S. plants start rejecting Canadian cattle

“It’s a very significant disruption. – John Masswohl, CCA Canada’s cattle shipments to the United States are plummeting as the new country-of-origin labelling (COOL) rule takes effect. Some U. S. packers are taking a hands-off approach to Canadian cattle as uncertainty reigns over how to handle slaughter animals from another country. The impact became noticeable